Lime Chiffon Pie

by Lauren | Celiac Teen on March 18, 2010

St. Patrick’s Day is many things. It can be a day to celebrate luck. To have potatoes, Irish soda bread, or other things that represent Ireland. It can be a green-covered day. But that isn’t what St. Patrick’s Day is to me. In fact, it is my brother’s birthday. Which means that he is even more excited about all things green. Especially around this time. So I made a green-flavoured pie. A lime chiffon pie.

Lime chiffon. Think key lime pie. Think meringue (as in lemon meringue pie). Now fluff the two of those together into one pillow of lime. Slightly tart, with a flawless structure from egg whites, it is undoubtably one of my favourite pies I’ve ever made. You just have to do a bit of waiting. But once your pie crust is baked, you can turn off the oven and whip the pie together (in the most literal sense!), with the fridge doing most of the work.

Steps
Pour water into a medium saucepan and sprinkle with gelatin. Let stand for a few minutes. Whisk in 3/4 cup sugar, lime juice and lemon juice until blended. Then slowly whisk in egg yolks. Place over medium heat, and cook whisking constantly. In a couple of minutes, it will have doubled in volume and become foamy. A few minutes after that, the mixture will begin to thicken a little bit, and there will be a touch of steam. Just ensure that it doesn’t boil.

Take off heat and pour the hot mixture into a large bowl, and stir in the lemon and lime zests. Refrigerate for 45 to 50 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes or so, until the mixture becomes thicker and has cooled.

In a large bowl, beat egg whites and salt until soft peaks form. Slowly whip in 1/2 cup sugar, until the whites just hold stiff peaks.

Stir a large spoonful of the egg whites into lime mixture. Then fold the lime mixture into the egg whites. Fold just until there are no more streaks of white or lime, but do not over fold. Place the mixture into your baked and cooled pie crust, then refrigerate for 3 hours.

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Before chilling. It pretty much doesn’t move as it chills. Just becomes a little bit more solid. We wouldn’t want it to float away on us, you know!

The clean cut! I think it cuts cleaner than most pies. It’s meringue-ish, mousse-ish, and completely totally delicious. Very light. Quite easy to eat a lot without feeling that heaviness in your stomach.

Don’t lie. It’s begging for you to take a bite.

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Happy Birthday little (sort of. Stop growing already) Brother! I made this just for you – it’s lime (and lemon!) and green. You rock and I love you.

Today was the first day in a long time that I’ve been hit by the lightheaded overtired train. Maybe it was the time change, the screwed up sleep schedule, the colds and sore throats that have been going around, the fact that this whole semester I have not missed a day. Did you hear that? I only missed one day (today) in this whole semester. Last year, that number was much more. Too many more. I had to switch out of phys ed because I couldn’t do the exercise. I’ve also figured out something very important about exercise and my body: I can’t just stop. I have to very gradually stop. So gradually that you barely notice I’m slowing down. Otherwise it’s insta-dizzy. And I can’t feel my arms. Well, my arms don’t feel solid. It’s an inexplicable phenomenon. But I can recognize it. That means that I can stop it. Funny how that works.

This looks mind-blowingly, tongue-meltingly amazing. And so light and summery too. I'm so impressed that you develop many of your own recipes, Lauren. Not only that, but that they come out looking so professional. Kudos!

Can't thank you enough for having reminded me of the arrival of Spring! These pies are perfect for Easter. A will-do but without the crust if you don't mind. Will do a double amount of filling and put it in a pretty glass bowl…your recipes are always superb. As AMy said – KUDOS, double!P

Welcome!

Hello there! My name is Lauren, and I am a 20 year old university student who has celiac disease and a handful of other health issues. I love to create delicious, gluten-free food. I hope you enjoy looking around!